MESSAGE FROM THE
PRESIDENT Cornish College of the Arts nurtures creativity and bold thinking. It has a seminal place in the culture of Seattle, nationally and in the world. Our name stands for quality, innovation and experimenta tion. Our future will be defined by many auspicious events yet to come. Each one of you will be part of the legacy of Cornish College of the Arts. There is a great foundation for original thinking here. In 2012— just around the corner—the world will celebrate the 100th anniversary of John Cage’s birth. Cage is an artist who spent his formative years at Cornish. He lauded the philosophy of teaching all the arts together in one school. He said “The Cornish School was extraordinary because of Nellie Cornish’s insistence that each person not specialize but study all of the things that were offered.”
Welcome, students, faculty, staff and guests. I am thrilled to be here to open the academic year for the Cornish community. Today we celebrate the arrival of the newest community members, the class of 2015. You have come here from more than 40 states and 13 countries from around the world. At Cornish you will work with fellow students who will form your artistic peer group. To have both the visual and performing arts in one school provides a rich palette of opportunities for each and every one of you. College is about all kinds of learning—and part of that experience will be collaborating with each other. You are the only class with whom I will ever enter Cornish as President. I, too, will get lost once in a while and I, too, will be a little anxious about some of the unfamiliar aspects of the experience—as we know, all of this is part of starting a new chapter of life. I am eager to get to know each of you and I am pleased to be learning the Cornish culture and way of life with you. I’ll soon be organizing breakfasts and other events with students—I look forward to this!
While you do come to focus on a particular discipline in today’s Cornish College of the Arts, the influence of all the arts will help you view your work with new understanding and insight. I believe the reason that John Cage is important to Cornish and to the world is that he created ideas that were quite a bit ahead of his time. This is intriguing—because what I have witnessed in recent years is that his voice seems to have even more resonance now than ever. I urge you to hang on to your ideas and champion them—even if others don’t seem to “get it” right away. Remember that you too may be ahead of your time and that is very exciting! Students—I have no doubt your Cornish years will be rich with inspiration, meaningful work, and, hopefully, many good and fun experiences. Our faculty is outstanding. We at Cornish are committed to doing everything we can to ensure that all of you succeed and flourish in your time here. To both new and con tinuing students: please think of Cornish not only as home, but also as fertile ground to grow and challenge yourself, to revel in your art practice, to celebrate your successes and feel safe with your failures, and to have a truly wonderful and enjoyable college experience. Dr. Nancy J. Uscher President From Convocation, September 6, 2011